Open House Picks: Carroll Gardens Edition

199 Huntington has no bathroom on the parlor floor and no central air and a cute but not amazing kitchen. Not complaining, but wondering if these things were all done what the price would be? Would it just be what it would cost to do these things? Something like $125,000 more? Yes, I know you could do these renovations for less, but I’m talking really high quality renovations with an architect and an interior designer. Or would it be more than that because so few homes are really that recently renovated. I’m only asking because it makes me wonder how much it’s worth to put in to a home, can you get it back when you totally fix it up, when a house like this is considered done?

And yes I too am sure this house will sell for its asking price. I’m only trying to figure out how good it is to totally fix up my place.

Adding to the 199 Huntington discussion: my husband and I stopped by this afternoon. There was lots of traffic – we arrived before 3PM and were the 6th or 7th sign-ins on the sheet.

Interesting house – the restoration/renovation on the woodwork and plasterwork on the garden and parlor floors is immaculate, House Tour quality. I’d change the dark-ish wallpaper in the parlor and ditch the awnings to bring in more light, but the parlor floor and garden-floor dining area are exquisite.

The kitchen has no counter space. None. The current owner is using a kitchen table as an eating space and (presumably) prep space. You would have to re-do the kitchen if you’re a cook. I suspect the wonderful vintage Magic Chef range throws off a lot of heat – the oven doors seemed very light (ie not well insulated). The full bath off the kitchen is toeing the line between “period” and “kitsch.” The garden is wonderful and the mud room is sturdy and bright.

The owners did not do any of the restoration work on the top/bedroom floor that they did on the two lower floors. Both big bedrooms need to be scraped and repainted – there’s flaking and peeling paint and some noticeable cracks in the plaster. The bathroom is a judgment call – it is very small (the tub is the smallest possible standard-size tub) and there’s no ventilation. You could use it as is and add a vent to the roof, or you could spend the money to reconfigure one of the small ‘bedrooms’ into a bath. Those small rooms are really small, as they are in most brownstones.

It will be interesting to see if this goes for more than asking price.

The 150 huntington street house is an early house. Carroll Gardens contains many houses that pre-date the brownstone era. These 1840’s houses are not as deep as the later houses, probably because it was still the candle and whale oil period and they needed as much light as possible in the house. But I think they are among the nicest city houses built in the USA. They are plain compared to the later “Italianate” style houses. Although this one has great pilasters and a pretty ceiling in the parlor. 1.3 million plus dollars is a lot of money though. I hope the lucky banker or corporate lawyer who buys it will not hire a hot-shot architect who will rip to shreds so as to make it more cool. A trend I see happening among the new, very rich, arrivals in Carroll Gardens.

Actually, the price decreases are for properties below 96th Street!!

West 155th is not the UWS.

brooklyn = brooklyn.

enjoy